Video Playtime with Baby Kevin

[Calpurnia]

A video from just about a year ago. In that time Kevin has shed his adorable baby face but gotten much better at catch! As you can see this is also the beginning of his carpet-pecking behavior, which continues to baffle me to this day.

 

[sunnysmom]

So cute!

 

[Tyrion]

Very cute love the way he hops around

 

[iamwhoiam]

Looks like Kevin is having a great time! He is very cute.

 

[txdyna65]

I also love the way he hops around, such a cool looking bird

 

[Birdbabe]

So cute!

 

[Begone]

Adorable and very playful!
Is their something wrong with his left foot?

 

[Aubrey]

Such a cute little hopper

 

[Sweet Louise]

so very cute, and Kevin is a most excellent name!

 

[Calpurnia]

Adorable and very playful!
Is their something wrong with his left foot?

Yep, he has a birth defect that has resulted in a "gimp" foot of sorts. After getting it check out by a vet they think it's just underdeveloped, or even damaged, nerves which leaves him with less control of the toes on his left foot. Luckily he gets around on it just fine so I'm happy to just add it to the list of quirks that makes him oh so endearing.

 

[Aubrey]

Do you have a current video of him playing?

 

[Calpurnia]

Do you have a current video of him playing?

Here he is with his all time favorite toy.

 

[Calpurnia]

And another (older) video of his confusion over a water bottle.

 

[Begone]

He is so cute! And he really wants that water!
I don't know anything about a Aracari. How are they compare to a parrot?

 

[iamwhoiam]

How do they get along with parrots?

 

[Aubrey]

Kevin is a trip! I love his enthusiasm

 

[Calpurnia]

He is so cute! And he really wants that water!
I don't know anything about a Aracari. How are they compare to a parrot?

A few of the similarities between Kevin and my parrotlet Simon:

• He can be very sociable, and even cuddly. There are times when he will go flying through the apartment looking for his "flock", or when he will hop into your lap and let you wrap him up in blankets for some snuggle time.
• He is messy.
• He gets into everything, especially small dark spaces or anything he can crawl underneath (so almost all of the furniture).

Some of the MANY differences:

• He requires a special diet of low-iron fruits/veggies/pellets.
• His poops are like fruits that have been pulsed in a blender a few times then plopped all over the floor, TV, couch, chairs, etc. You come to my house and wonder why half of the furniture is covered in towels and sheets then you meet Kevin and understand. The absolute worst is when he plants a sneak-attack-time-bomb somewhere that I overlooked (poop sweeps are mandatory after he leaves a room after all), then you step in it hours later and your sock gets soak in ice cold fruit-poop-water.
• He requires a big cage, or at least one that is much larger than his size might indicate, mainly because he can travel over 2 feet in one hop and also cannot climb with his beak. On that note he also cannot be clipped ever.
• He is not noisy at all. Maybe once a month he makes a loud "AAA-RACK" call when he is startled by a hawk flying by or something. Usually though it's just a bunch of croaks, whines, purrs, etc.
• His beak is incapable of damaging the furniture, or even most toys. And his bite is actually very weak.
• He is very independent. While he obviously likes us and wants to be with us most of the time, he also has no problem chilling on top of his cage alone for hours. He's very much an "ambient" attention sort of bird, and will happily play on the floor nearby while we watch TV, play games, etc. A lot different from Simon who needs to be in your face for much of the day.
• Unlike with Simon I can handle him all over his body, pull out his wings, squish him to my chest, play with his feet and he doesn't complain.
• He has an intelligence that is different from a parrots, something that I think reflects their different natural history. He is difficult to train because he is not super food motivated, I can "read" him less easily than I can Simon (who seems to wear his emotions on his sleeve), and to some people he might almost seem "dumb". But personally I think he just seems like more of a wild animal, and requires an understanding that is unbiased by all of the perceptions we have about parrots in general.

 

[Calpurnia]

How do they get along with parrots?

Kevin and Simon (my parrotlet) are pretty good buds. Probably because they grew up together, and because Simon is one sassy little shizz that doesn't let a beak that big push him around. Simon's favorite activity with Kevin is actually "wiggle dancing" and regurgitating for him, something that Kevin seems less than enthused about.

With our budgie though Kevin was a little rough, and with Lily our BH Pionus he gets very defensive, puffs up all his feathers, stands as tall as possible and would probably go for an attack if we let them get too close. Luckily they seem find chilling on their respective cage tops but when she gets too close... Overall I think an aracari's reputation for being unsuitable around smaller birds is well-founded. Simply because their beaks are large and can pack a punch to a tiny, relatively fragile bird, and because he does have an instinctual drive to chase after small, fast moving object.

But as Kevin has proved it may just be that they need to be raised with a particular bird to learn to coexist with them. He is nothing but gentle with Simon and only chases him away when he is annoyed, never tries to snap or bite at him in earnest. In general though I would have to say that the two can live together but shouldn't really mix.

 

[Begone]

Thank you so much for that long and interested reading!
I really loved what I read about them, except for the poop.
Looking forward to see more pics and video of Kevin.

 

[Aubrey]

Fascinating. Thanks for writing all that great info!